"I have stayed at this hotel 3 times previously when it was the Hotel California so I knew what to expect. I went with a friend, on arrival there was a group of 6 checking in and only 1 member of staff. Whilst in the queue we spoke to 2 other guests who were checking out, they advised us to be aware of the £150 deposit the hotel requested, they advised that they had not paid it as they did not have the money.
When it was finally our turn at reception, we were asked to pay tourist tax which I advised we had paid when I paid for the hotel room in full and it shows on the bill, the receptionist then asked me for £150 deposit. I advised that I would not be paying £150 deposit as it was not stipulated on the bill or on the website when I booked and that I didn’t have the money and so there was nothing I could do. A male staff member then appeared, was very abrupt and rude and said that I would need to pay the £150 deposit. I told him I wasn’t going pay it and that I’ve already paid for the room and if there were any damages then I would pay for them but considering that we’re in our 40s I can’t see there being any.
He then tried to show me on the website where it mentions the £150 deposit I said I wasn’t interested because I wasn’t paying it, another couple. who were also waiting to check in said that it did mention on the website that large parties could be asked to pay for a deposit, so the information on the website is clearly wrong. The reception staff were very hostile from then on.
You take money with you to pay for your spends on holiday not to be handing over to staff for a deposit, which I have never been asked for in all my years of traveling.
Other than that the room we had was on the eighth floor which was fine no problem. It was clean, view of the pool.
However, the toilet and the shower set up was strange (I had expected a refurb to address these issues). The toilet door had a gap in it so if you’re on the toilet, everybody can hear you, if you’re in the shower there’s a mirror directly opposite the shower so whoever is sat on the bed can see you coming out of the shower, there was no wardrobe so you couldn’t hang any of your clothes up and there was no decent lighting. There was no mirror above the dressing table to use just a tall mirror or your own hand mirror. The pool staff and restaurant staff couldn’t have done more for us they were lovely. It’s just a shame that the two people on reception when we checked in at dinner time were quite rude and treated us as a burden rather than guests, however, the night staff on reception were lovely.
I wouldn’t come back again because I don’t think it’s right to be asking for £150 deposit from some guests and accepting to ignore so called company policy when met with resistance from other guests, this seems unprofessional and slightly dishonest."
